1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dental instruments, and particularly to a dental implant angle measurement device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Patients suffering from oral issues, such as edentulous patients, can seek treatment in various forms, such as the use of dental prosthetics. One possible form of treatment involves the use of a crown prosthetic in conjunction with the patient's teeth. Another possible form of treatment involves the use of a denture prosthetic, which is considered a successful treatment modality. When treatment involves the use of a prosthetic, the comfort of the patient and the retention of the prosthetic can be enhanced by incorporating an attachment system in conjunction with the prosthetic.
Examples of prosthetic attachment systems can include the use of a dental implant placed within the oral cavity of the patient. Various features of these dental implants can include external threads that are placed into contact with the bone of the patient, such as the jaw bone, and that can be also placed at an area where the process of osseointegration will occur. The dental implants can also include internal threads within the body of the implant for attachment to other dental components and/or instruments.
Different prosthetic treatment options can be attached to the implants, such as the single crown that can be attached to the implant using a prosthetic screw, or a fixed partial denture that can be fabricated onto two implants and stabilized by screws. Another form of prosthetic treatment which can be attached using dental implants is an over denture that can be attached to the implants and can also be placed in conjunction with an inner surface of a prosthodontics appliance, such as a complete denture, which can enhance retention inside the patient's mouth.
When two or more dental implants are used in the attachment system, success of the treatment can depend upon parallelism between the dental implants. Parallelism can be defined when a vertical axis of one implant is parallel or near parallel to a vertical axis of another implant. If parallelism is established between the two implants this can allow for proper component selection by a user, such as a dentist, and can also help to anticipate the amount of postoperative care that a patient can need. For example, by having parallelism between the dental implants, a proper dental component, such as an accurate male replacement retention liner, can be selected for the implant.
If the dental implants do not have parallelism between them, the operator can select a proper dental component to compensate for the misalignment by using a specially designated dental component, such as nylon band, designated to compensate for the misalignment. Parallelism between the dental implants should be established early during the surgical phase of implant placement. However, if parallelism between the dental implants cannot be determined during surgery for any reason, then parallelism should be determined after surgery is completed.
In measuring parallelism, current dental implant angle measurement devices use a vertical plane perpendicular to a horizontal plane of the implant as a reference, which can allow for a trajectory measurement of up to 25 degrees in both directions. However, the vertical plane that current dental implant angle measurement devices are using as a starting point is not necessarily accurate. Also, accuracy can be relatively easily affected by such factors like the patient's head tilt or by the judgment of the operator who is taking the measurement. Any inaccuracy in the measurements can affect the selection of proper components, such as a retention liner, used in the attachment system.
Thus, it is desirable for a dental implant angle measurement device that can provide an accurate measurement of parallelism, as can take into consideration external factors, such as the patient's head tilt or the actions of the operator.
Thus, a dental implant angle measurement device addressing the aforementioned problems is desired.